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For the cover page of this folder go to the News reports about the Michael Schmidt raw milk case
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posted on January 27, 2009
Raw milk saga heads back to court
Farmer to argue forcing him to pasteurize milk is a violation of his constitutional rights
By: Megan Ogilvie
Published: January 25 2009
Source: Toronto StarThe ongoing fight over the right to drink raw milk will fire up again in a Newmarket court tomorrow.
Dairy farmer Michael Schmidt will defend himself against charges for allegedly dispensing milk straight from the cow. In Canada, it is illegal to sell or distribute unpasteurized milk, which health officials consider a health hazard.
The defiant farmer, who operates an organic farm with 30 Canadienne cows in Durham, Ont., maintains he is not breaking the law and says he only provides milk to the cow's owners, who pay $3 a litre to board their animals at his farm. The prohibition on raw milk does not apply to farmers and Schmidt's co-operative venture, set up to skirt the law, will be at the centre of this trial.
Schmidt, who faces 20 charges under the Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Milk Act, plans to argue current laws around mandatory pasteurization are unconstitutional. He says the government is violating his – and the cow-share owners' – personal freedom by preventing him from selling milk straight from the cow.
"It is definitely a Charter argument," Schmidt told the Star from his home office at his Glencolton Farms. "It is infringing on the people's right who want to have unaltered milk."
The province, however, maintains the Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Milk Act are constitutional.
posted on January 28, 2009
In conversation with Norman Lofts
By: Sarah Gopaul
Published: October 30, 2008
Source: Blog ThisThe ninth edition of the Planet in Focus International Environmental Film & Video Festival wrapped this Sunday, having screened over 100 of the world's best films on a wide range of environmental themes and subjects by Canadian and international filmmakers. Awards were handed out prior to the final screening and Norman Lofts was presented with the Canadian Long Form Award for his documentary Michael Schmidt: Organic Hero or Bioterrorist. The film features the Ontario farmer and raw milk activist who is currently making headlines with his legal battle for the right to sell raw milk and the consumer's right to choose. I had a chance to speak with Lofts a few days later.
posted on January 28, 2009
Review: Michael Schmidt: Organic Hero or Bioterrorist
By: Sarah Gopaul
Published: October 24, 2008
Source: Blog This[Editor's Note: Sarah Gopaul will be reviewing a selection of films from the Planet in Focus film festival over the next few days. She is a regular contributor to popjournalism.ca]
This documentary addresses a very sensitive subject in Canada — should unpasteurized raw milk be regulated and made available to consumers?
Both arguments are very strong. Those in favor of raw milk claim the government is making a personal choice for them by making it illegal to obtain. They also insist it has health benefits.
Those against maintain the health risks, especially to children and the elderly, are too great to allow people to be given the choice at all.
However, Canada is the only G8 country that enforces an overall ban on the product. Most countries have a doctrine of random inspection and testing. In California, it is even available on supermarket shelves.
posted on January 28, 2009
Raw-milk producer found guilty of contempt
By: Kate Hammer (with a report from the Canadian Press)
Published: October 21, 2008
Source: The Globe and MailOntario's defender of delicate dairy enzymes was found in contempt of court yesterday for continuing to distribute raw milk.
Organic farmer Michael Schmidt has made unpasteurized milk from the cows on his dairy farm near Owen Sound available at farmers markets for more than 20 years.
He continued to do so in defiance of a court order issued in May of 2007, a judge decided yesterday.
Mr. Schmidt, who represented himself throughout the proceedings, said that the guilty verdict was what he had "realistically expected," though not what he had hoped for.
posted on January 28, 2009
Supporters lift glasses of 'real milk' from his farm to salute defiant Schmidt after Newmarket verdict
By: Noor Javed
Published: October 21, 2008
Source: The StarSoon after dairy farmer Michael Schmidt was found in contempt of court yesterday for distributing raw milk, he joined supporters in a toast outside the Newmarket courtroom.
The glasses were filled with fresh, creamy, unpasteurized milk. "Here's to the real milk," said Judith McGill, one of a dozen on hand to support the farmer at his first of two trials focused on raw milk distribution.
"Here's to everybody," said Schmidt, taking a sip of the liquid pumped at his farm that morning. "We will continue with what we're doing." Last month Schmidt went on trial after the Region of York filed a contempt charge against him for failing to obey a May 2007 court order not to distribute raw milk within its borders.
posted on January 28, 2009
Raw milk and toast
Ontario farmer was found guilty of contempt of court for defying an order to stop selling unpasteurized milk
By: Peter Kuitenbrouwer
Published: October 21, 2008
Source: National PostMoments after a rebel milkman was convicted of contempt of court charges as part of his ongoing battle to sell milk straight from a cow's udder, the dairy farmer and his supporters celebrated by sauntering out the back door of the courthouse and toasting their defeat with glasses of unpasteurized milk.
"Cheers to the Queen," said Michael Schmidt, noting that the monarch "still drinks raw milk."
Mr. Schmidt was convicted yesterday for defying a court order by continuing to pull up to local parking lots in his big blue bus and sell raw milk from his 30 cows.
http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/story.html?id=896560
posted on January 28, 2009
Gina Mallet: Udder hypocrisy in Michael Schmidt raw milk case (update)
Published: October 20, 2008
Source: National PostRaw-milk activist Michael Schmidt was found guilty Monday for not adhering to a court order to discontinue production and sale of unpasteurized cow milk. Gina Mallet reacts:
Talk about hypocrisy! Michael Schmidt's raw milk has never been found to have listeria or e coli, none of his customers have turned up in intensive care.
People who buy raw milk know there's an outside risk of a pathogen in unpasteurized milk.
But no one who ate the listeria laced deli meat and now, the e-coli burgers from a North Bay Wendy's Harvey's knew they were dicing with death when they ate processed and fast food.
posted on January 28, 2009
Farmers' lament: Get a grip. Life is inherently risky
By: Sasha Chapman
Published: September 13, 2008
Source: The Globe and MailDairy farmer Deborah Whale is sick and tired of hearing about the listeriosis outbreak at Maple Leaf Foods. Not that she's worried about the safety of our food system. What bothers her is the media frenzy, which says more about us and how little we know about our food than it does about the safety of our food chain.
"Never before in the history of the human species have we had such a safe system," Ms. Whale says.
But while shoppers can opt out of the industrial meat chain by switching to deli cuts from local butchers, none of us has that option when it comes to milk: By law, we can only buy milk from the province's communal pool.
Hence, dairy is among the most vulnerable links in our food chain.
posted on January 28, 2009
Ontario won't cede its position on safety of unpasteurized milk
By: Michael Oliveira
Published: November 22, 2007
Source: The Globe and Mail pg. A.17Advocates of raw, unpasteurized milk were again pleading their case at the Ontario Legislature yesterday but the province said it won't budge on its position that it's simply not safe for consumption.
Lovers of so-called farm-fresh milk said they would continue to enjoy it anyway and warned that the province could find itself dealing with a health crisis if a booming underground economy isn't regulated.
Farmer Michael Schmidt, who provides raw milk to 150 families and has been doing so for 12 years, visited the legislature to mark the first anniversary of an armed police raid on his property for allegedly operating a milk plant without a licence.
posted on January 28, 2009
Raw milk supply dries up NO CRYING / Michael Schmidt thought he was on to a good thing with unpasteurized milk, but Queen's Park didn't, and it shut him down
By: Michael Mittelstaedt
Published: January 4, 1995
Source: The Globe and Mail pg. A.4Durham, Ont. -- DAIRY farmer Michael Schmidt hit upon an idea two years ago whose time he thought had come: the sale of unpasteurized milk to health-food aficionados.
The idea, like many in agriculture, sprouted in a small way. People would occasionally stop at his farm, nestled on a country road, asking to buy fresh milk. As word of these impromptu sales grew, Mr. Schmidt soon found himself besieged by customers "banging on my door."
Some were even driving from as far afield as Toronto, 145 kilometres to the southeast, to buy milk.
"People would say 'We like your stuff.' For a farmer, those compliments are your bread and butter."
Selling unpasteurized, or raw, milk is illegal in Ontario, although farmers are allowed to consume unpasteurized dairy products from their own animals.